Gage.



'H. HESS.

GAGE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. lsffao. I 1,157,389; Patented 0ct'.19,1915.

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UNITED. STATES PATEN ormon.

- nann HESS. or PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

Y menses.

term I do not refer broadly to all inst'nn me ts for determining the trueness oi me chanical objects, but only to those instruments for determining or measuring the size or dimension of objects; Gages with this understanding .ofthe term, are of a great many types and for a great many uses, but for the purpose of the presentapplication they: may be considered as divided. intotwo,

2? general classes, namely fixed-dimension gages andchangeable-dimension gages. I The-latter class is thatin which the gaging surfaces: are relatively movable over a considerable latitude so that the gage can be setnto' thevdimension of the object, the size ofwhich'sis thereupon indicated upon a scale 4 usually a part of the gage.

"The present invention relates more-pan tioalarly to,,- a nd has its greatest field'of usefHl2 l8SS' lfn= the other class, namely, that of fixed-dimension gages wherein in the practiealluse of the gage there is no adjustment 'of the gaging surfaces, the same being perinaiiently set for a fixed size or dimension to 'Whichthe object being gagedmust accord in the use ofthe instrument. a l Gages of thepresent, invention are to have provided as an integral part of them preformed hardened'steel balls, the gaging con- 40 tacts consisting solely in portions of such balls; and such gages being preferably made 'or provided in complete sets of sizes, for example one gage for each difference of a sixteeenth ofan inch within a giyen range. Having premised this much With respect to the present invention, the said invention in its broad aspect may be said to consist of a1 gaging system for dimensions or sizes comprising a graduated set of gages, each conw sisting of a handle or support in combination with and having all its gaging parts conssting of one or more preformed spherical' hardened..steel balls, the said support and balls being connected together by inimovable connections; andthe said'zset of gages beingv graded to afford an increasing GAGE.

Specification of Letters Patent. I

' retreated-oct-19,1915.

" a neaaon filed October 18, 1910. Serial No. 587,702.

serieslof sizes either scientificlsorting out andselection of'individualballs as to theirdiameters, or by the scientific attachment of a plurality of. such balls to each support at a certa n exact distance from each other, or by both methods. I If. f

A's one instance of the invention thus broadly stated the drawings hereof show as an embodiment thereof the. kind of" gage known as. the plug or bore gage for determining the interior diameters of bores, the

same taking different physical forms in they drawings; but the principles of the inven-,

tion are also adapted to application in other vkinds of gages, for example, the so-called caliper gages either internal or external, or mixed gages, for examplepartly internal and partly external. And for each orany kind of gage the present invention may-he applied. With variations, such as, for example the variation from a single to. a. double gage or measure with a scientifically determined difierence between the two sov as to constitute of the instrument a so-called tolerance gage, With respect to Which the object being measured must exceed the smaller measure andbe under the larger measureto comply with the gage. In using the present invention I contempalte not only the-employment of'such variations asthat justreferredto, but also the addition of miscellaneous supplementary details, suchfor example as devices for originally standardizing or correcting the gages, for taking themapart, etc.

A gage or system; of gages constructed in accordance With the above statement. of the present invention afiordsagreat manyadvantages With respect to bothmanufacture;

thereof and the use or practice thereof." For example, it will be appreciated'that the employment of a spherical shape for; all of gaging parts gives the very. greatest accuracy of contact in measuring an ob]e ct as to its internal or'eXternal diameter 01' other- Wise.-" The actual'part of the instrument which is in contact With the object is never a plane or an area, but 1s either one or more single' points of contact, and theoretically these Would be -mathe-matical points, or at the most a single line' ofcontact, said line being of inappreciable Width, In'nogage embodying my invention is it TBQLHIGdfZO set or adjust a flat or plane area With respect to the object to be measured and all the errors of such are therebygobviated.

With respect to the employment of preformed spherical hardened steel bans thereis' a great deal to say. Thus aball possesses the advantage of maintaining its correctness of shape in a higher degree than other shapes. This is because all articles made of" hardened steel are subject to change due to a change in the conditions of internal stress.

.ther the greater the departure of an object from uniformity of section, the greater will be the strains originally set up in quenching the internal strains.

steel spheres is known to be superlative and the high temperature. The sphere is the one shape which is uniform in every direction, and in which therefore the least internal strains will be setup by quenching, and in which further there will be the least change in shape by the gradual release of The hardness of these the sphere may be made-very much harder than any other shapes such as cylinders, rings, bars, etc. The sphere isalso subject to very muchless damage by direct nicking or indenting of its surface and by change of shape due to violent or improper treatment, as for example when the gage is carelessly allowed to fall upon a hard object. Besides these advantages the hardened steel spheres afford cheapness in the construction of the gage, which is a very considerable factor. The cheapness and accuracy of hardened steel spheres permit under my invention an entire system of gages to be constructed, the

same of less cost to the user than that of asingle gage of the heretofore well known adjustable type, such for example as the micrometer gage, which is in reality a ma chine, and one, of great accuracy of Workmanship, it being designed with moving parts enabling it to be set Ito correspond With the size of an object, whereupon such size is indicated upon the scale which also constitutes ,a part of the micrometer gage. With mv invention employing the hardened steel balls, the latter are merely made, or

select'edfby-well known scientific methods in proper sizes, and an appropriate series of them'selected to be made up into systems of gages; and by the word system l intend not only the graded set of -balls and the means that supports; them; but also the means for distinguishing them one from the other, such for example as the directions or indicating marks, which would preferably Therefore the less fResulting from this'in turn are employed, at the required a each other, for accomplishing 'be undetachable;' in some c be figures showing the actual sizes, the same etched or otherwise applied upon theballs or their supports.

vA system of gagesmade according to my invention as adapted not merely to be used as a standard of reference for other gages,

butowing to the qualities hereinbeforc an" hereinafter referred to,'the same are adapted gage to be a fixed-dimension gage, not only by the immovable connections of the spheres to their supports, but by the fixed-exact and unchangeable relation between the measuring points, parts or contacts of a given gage. many ad vantages of real practical value 'lhus all mechanism is dispensed with and the instrument is purely and simply a gage and has none of the complications of a machine, to which objection the micrometer gage is open; there are no screws to be operated, and there is no adjustment or movement cf parts in the employment of the gage. In

either in the adjustment thereof to the object to be measured or in the reading of the scale which pertains to it. Greater dura bility results not only because the wear involved is distributed over a great many individual gages, but also because of the entire absence of any Wear due to movement or adjustment of screws or other parts. The simplicity of the immovable attachment of the steel spheres to their supports promotes the cheapness and therefore the availability of the invention, this being due to the absense of expensive working parts, the n problem and expense being incur ing the steel spheres, when. 2 pk is in devised expedients, It will. i i that-by immovability I mean i tionor adjustment when in and I do not mean that the spru prefer to have them detachain advantage involved when all 3% i parts or spheres have immovable L each other, is the ease of sta thegage. In an ordinary or quite difficult to produce an lelism vbetween the jaw sin deed this Will be seen to greatly enhance the slightest strain put upon any of the parts Wlll throw these surfaces out of parallelism and at once destroy the accuracy of the gage,

themselves may .twist orwind, and the ball having only asingle point'oI contact all of the difficulties due to width and length of surface contact are done away with.

Coming. now to the narrower aspect, or phase of my invention, namely, that to which the drawings forming a part hereof are confined, .it may be seen to consist of gaging system comprising a graduated set.

the application ofmy broad invention to that kind of gage known as a plug gage for measuring internal dimensions or the diameters of bores, and the inv'entionin this spe cific view may be stated as consisting of a of preformedhardened steel balls of the kind manufactured forv ball bearings, the same being scientifically measured and sorted out to afford an increasing series of sizes, in combination with a set of supports or handles therefor; each ofsaid balls with its support beingimmovably connectedtogether. This plug gage embodiment of my invention will be seen topossess all of the many important advantages and functions hereinabove recited. In addition this novel plug gage has superlative advantages with respect to gaging interior dimensions such as the diameters of bores. The steel ball of this gage will find inaccuracies in the hole to beenplored that the'ordinary cylindrical plug gage is unable to detect. This is because the ball can follow the changes in outline of the hole, since it measures successive diameters, whereas a cylindrical gage owing to its substantiallength is able only to measure minimum diameters. Itis understood that a plug gage is supposed to be of the same diameter as the bore it is to measure. It is quite conceivable that a cylindrical gage which is for example .001 inch smaller than the actual diameter of a I hole could not be passed through that-hole if the latter were at all winding or irregular. My novel gage on the contrary, however, wouldv pass through that hole even though it were only .OOOlIinch smaller than the hole itself. My novel'plug gage is'very convenient for verifying bores, as owing to the sphericalsha-pe the ball willenter the bore whether or not thehandle be held accurately in an axial directionyand intact the ab lity of the handle to vary in 'thtsrespect results in the measuring being accomplished not always atthe same circumference so that thevwear, slight though it is, 1s distributed over several circumferences,-

- thus prolonging the accuracy and life 'o f the gage,

Another advantage inhering in my novel pluggage is thatany-general ben'ding orchange of shape in the gage as a-whole makes absolutely no difference, whereas with a cylindrical gage the very smallest amount less.

of-curvature would render it practically use- Besides the specific embodiments contained in the drawings hereof; showing my;

broad invention, the latter. is susceptible of embodiment in other forms of gages suchas caliper gages or those-in which two'prop erly positioned spheres operate in mutual conjunction for testing either interiors or exteriors; and such other fembodiments while not to be specificallydescribed, illus- 'trated or claimed herein, I particularly reserve and set aside to constitute the subject matter of other applications to be filed bymej I will now describe several instances of the kind of gage herein referred to as a plug gage embodying both the-broad and specific, characteristics of the present invention, and will then point out the novel features in the claims. 7 p I p In the drawings accompanying this specification and forming a part of the same, Figure 1 is a side view of a plug gage, em-' bodying my invention vand.compr smg a preformed hardened sphericalfsteelfball' immovably attached to a supporting handle;

Fig. 2 is a cross-section'of the gage shown in Fig. 1, and also the cross-section of a supposed object whose bore is beinggaged; Fig. 3 is an end view of the gageof Figs. 1 and 2 from the ball end thereofj -Fig. 4; shows a variation wherein two balls are connected to a singlesupport, the balls'of diiferentsi'zes, enabling the same to be used as aItolei'ance gage for gaging bores;F-ig."5 shows a supplementary detail in'the way of a separable handle, the part which is directly connected to the ballbeing "capable'f of unscrewing from the handle proper;

6 is a variation of the gage shown in Fig. l

with respect to the 'positionsf'of theftwo balls, and this figure also shows asupple Inentaryidea in the separation of the {balls from each otherby means ofthe separation of the support at .an 1nternied-1ate point; Fig. 7 shows an adjunct which forms-no special-part of the-present inventionrhut-is in the nature o f'an' insertion by-which' the gage in Fig. 6 may be made longer by, for example, the extent of one inch or other predeterminedsubstantial amount; Figs. 8

and 9 show a special application of thewithin those limits, and the inclosure for tnefg'agesras well as the gages themselves. may have the fproper fractions or numbers designating their respective sizes. .Fig. 11 showslin central cross-section an illustra- {tion of. "a"modifica tion combining the features illustrated'in Figs. 4 and 9, produc- "ing a tolerance gage in which the balls are.

detachably secured to the handles. Fig. 1:2 is a left hand view-of the gage of Fig. 11.

Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 10,-repres ents preformed hardened steel balls. In accordance'; with this embodiment of my invention thesupport for-the ball A is in the nature ofa' handleB which at b may have a numerical indication or marking of the size of the gage. or the function it is to" perform The ball A and support B are to be immovaloly connected together, and this will preferably be done by means; of a low fusing solder, asoft cement or the like. When securedtogether A and B fovma completeand manent gage which may be one of such a teen as indicated in Fig. 101 In addin to or place of marking its size upon the support B, Imay indicate the size, preferably by etching, upon the ball itself but at a location which corresponds neither with the extreme front or center of the ball, nor any of the circumferences that are likely to takepart in the measurement of a bore. (i, Fig. 2, indicates any article with a hole bored therein, and this figure indicates the gage as exploring and determining'the correctness of the diameter of the bore throughout its extent. This gage can hevaried or supplemented for use as a tolerance gage in the manner indicated in Fig. 4:, in which A indicates the first steel sphere and B its su'p-' port, there being a second and slightly Y larger sphere A beyond which. is a secondsupport constituting a handle 3*. If now the spheres A and A differ from each other by, say, .002 of an inch a bore he measured and determined with an accuracy equal to that difference, namely if the first or being a mere supplement to the gage seen tolerance gage in whichcase first one end a smaller sphere A can be succes ally passed into the bore where the larger sphere is unable to enter.

- I In Fig. 5 the sphere A has an extremely short support 13* and a removable handle D screwed into the rear of B this obviously in Fig. 1;

In Fig. 6 two spheres A and A are seen which may be so related as to constitute a to the support.

Lia-7,389,

element A B on the one hand and A B on the other hand, so as to increase by a substantial amount such as an inch the fixed distance between the two spheres. pedient would be useful for instance when the gage shown .in Fig. 6 was employed not for determining bores, but as an end gage for determining lengths or the distances between two parts or surfaces.

In Figs. 8 and 9 instead of having the sphere cemented or soldered to its support, it is secured thereto in an immovable way by a device which nevertheless permits of detachment,- which in some cases might be desirable. A circumferential groove is This exshown as having been ground around the ball A, namely at f, said groove of such a depth thata wire loop may be passed around the groove without projecting beyond the surface of the ball. F indicates a wire passed around saidgroove and having its ends extended into the interior of the support B which is of a peculiar construction. Within said support are means for grasping and holding the wires permanently so as to render the sphere immovable with relation The support B has a cylindrical hole within which a cylindrical plug f is inserted, this plug having lengthwise grooves for the wires, said grooves terminating in radial holes so that the'wire ends can be bent radially inward to engage the holes. The wire ends and the plug being engaged and the plug being within the support B said plug is engaged at the end farthest from the sphere by the screw shank of a headed screw F, the head of said screw abutting port 13 Modifications of. Figs. 11 and 12 will now be clearly understood. Two spheres of slightly difi'erent diameters A and A are detachably secured to their support or handle so as to serve as aitoleranc'e gage. This is accomplished in the same manner as with Figs. 8 and 9, there being a wire F engaging circumferential grooves in the respective Y spheres and engagingalso in the plug f which is drawn by the screw 1 into the hair .(ile i o rtion'-B for rigidly tightening the parts. The handle or support in this embodiment consists of two portionsB extending from the larger of the spheres A and a. portion B extending between the spheres A? and A i Not as an essential or impo'rtai'it part of he invention herelnabove described, but

' merely as an incident, I mention the'capa bility of element A B", Fig. 5, serving as a height gage by being set on. the flat end of the support as a base, in which case the distancebetween said fiat end and the sphere surface ,unuld have to be exactly predeter- H1111(i,-Wl1l(3l1 obiuously would not interfere with the main functionsalready ascribed to those gages. This incidental use is analogems to that already referred to, shown in hereof, it being of that species of the broad mention in which the gage is produced by the scientific attachment of a plurality of balls toone support and at a given exact distance from each other for the purpose of cooperating in measuring an inside or outside dimension or other size. With respect to this and with respect generally to the broad pared with other gages.

invention .hereof, the-following points are -made as to the difference between my invention and gagesthat preceded it inthe art; the advantages to be now referred tonot having been previously herein recited. The

employment of separate preformed hardened steel spheres permits all theremainder of each gage to be made of soft metal, which therefore further reduces first cost as-com- Most kinds of gages are exceedingly diliicult and costly pieces of work to produce. Moreover owing to such use ofsoft metal there will be a total absence of various stresses that. are set up when the entire instrument has be hardened, or when its ends only have to be hardened. Where the entire gage is hardened the changes in length due to the gradual relief of internal strain are very pronounced, since not only do these strains produce a direct change in size or length, but also a more or less pronounced change in shape, such as to 5 distort the gage and thereby further cause 1' or size changes. come by my taking appropriate prearmed prehardened steel spheres and im- :novably attaching them to soft metal sup ports.

In using the terms ball andtsphere I do not exclude a preformed ball'or spherethat; has had its surface; or body p ar tly re All of which is moved by being machined or otherwise, so long as sufiicient of the sphere remains intact to perform the gaging functions that my invention contemplates. a V

In the claims the term gaging contacts or like term will be used to denote the'con= tact point 'or points or lines at which the gage contacts the object being gaged; in my gages there is no contact at surfaces, but substantially only at points and lines. And the spheres will be referred to as affording all these gaging contacts, as distinguished from having some of the'contacts consist of a part other than the spheres. which would be excluded from iiiy invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. As an article of manufacture a fixed dimension plug gage for exact machine requirements and uses comprising in combination, a"handle, a sphere of known diameter and a 'contrivance for 'immovably but detachably connecting said sphere and handle together, whereby spheres of different sizes may be interchanged in use with said handle, and each sphere being etched upon its surface with an indication of its own diameter.

2. The gage comprising at least one sphere affording all the gaging contacts of the gage in combination with a support and a member adapted to engage around the sphere beneath its surface for immovably but detachably connecting said sphere to said support.

3. A gage comprising at least one sphere affording all the gaging contact of the gage, in' combination with a support, and means for immovably but detachably connecting thesupport to a sphere; said connecting means comprising a wire engaged around the sphere beneath its surface, and a Wire clamping device on said support 4. As an article of manufacture a tolerance gage having at one extremity a gaging sphere, and at, its other extremity a handle part, and at a point intermediate its extremipart adapted to serve as a handle; said spheres and said two parts being mutually attachable and detachable.

6.. As an article of manufacture a tolerance gage having at-one point at least one gaging sphere, and at a second point at least one gaging sphere adapted to deter-- mine a dimension slightly different from that at the first point, a part extending between the "several spheres for connecting them, and a part adapted to serveas a hane dle, handle partheing connected to a sphere 0r spheres at a separate point from;

sphere, and at its other extremity a handle part, and at a point intermediate its extremities a second gaging sphere having a slightly different dimension from the first;

and means for. detachably securing together said spheres and handle.

8. As an article 015 manufacture a toler- I and a clamping Wire for detaohably' securing ance gage having at one extremity a gaging 15 sphere, and at its other extremity 'ahandle part, and at a point intermediate its extremities a second gaging sphere havinga slightly different dimension from the-first;

together said spheres and handle.

1 In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses. i

, HENRY H ss.

Witnesses:

J I GEORGE M. HENRIE,

M4RY M; CALLA. 

